PARTRIDGE-SHOOTING. 807 



nent, and placed them under domestic fowls ; the former at 

 Sudbourn, near Orford, in Suffolk, one of his shooting resi- 

 dences ; the latter on his estates at "Rendlesham, a few miles 

 distant from Sudbourn : from these places the birds have 

 been gradually extending themselves over the adjoining 

 counties. They are now becoming rather plentiful in Nor- 

 folk ; but it is found that they are not steady in their 

 haunts, as they liave been seen abundant on an estate in one 

 year, while in the succeeding, none were to be met with ; 

 which could not be attributed to the breeding, as both sea- 

 sons were alike favourable. 



These birds sometimes take very long flights, as we may 

 judge from the circumstance that the Rev. T. Fowler, of 

 Colton, near the coast between Yarmouth and Lowestoft 

 knew two instances in which four or five red-legged par- 

 tridges were found upon the beach there, in so exhausted a 

 condition, that they were run down by the boatmen, after 

 endeavouring to conceal themselves in fields of seaweed, and 

 under the fishing-boats drawn upon the sand. In the Lin- 

 ngean Transactions, it is mentioned that these birds are now 

 very plentiful in some parts of Suffolk. At least one hun- 

 dred and fifty brace have been seen upon Dunningworth- 

 heath; they are also found in greater or less numbers from 

 Aldborough to Woodbridge ; and they are now to be seen 

 in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, and latterly said to be 

 plentiful in Hertfordshire. 



The red-legged partridge scrapes together a slight nest of 

 dried grass, leaves, and other substances, among clover, grow- 

 ing corn or grass. The female lays from fifteen to eighteen 

 eggs, of a reddish-yellow, approaching to white, speckled 

 with reddish-brown. The young, like other partridges, soon 

 quit the nest after they are released from the shell. Their 

 food consists of the same kinds as that of the common par- 



